Official Languages committee  I see a lot of these people. I've met with teachers and public servants who can take the liberty of retiring at a fairly young age. They often feel a kind of euphoria for two or three years, but after that, they want to come back. We see that people no longer know how to reintegrate into the labour market.

Official Languages committee  That is very often the case. We're talking about the transferability of skills. A teacher does not necessarily want to return to the classroom, but wants to do something else. There's a lot of learning. It takes a lot of work, training and support for these people who want to return to the labour market.

Official Languages committee  Let's talk about the tourism industry. We have 300,000 francophone seniors among our members. We are increasingly working with our provincial federations and with the 16 regional FADOQs in Quebec. We are doing more and more travel and exchanges. We are trying to ensure that seniors are not only visiting the communities, but also have the opportunity to meet other seniors.

Official Languages committee  Exactly. Other avenues have to be found. We managed to build a capacity to develop, find the young people and the seniors. So once that's done, it has to start all over again. We need to think about other ways to do this, other avenues for funding. That's what's a little difficult.

Official Languages committee  Yes. A good example is the youth fund. We received $35,000, and we realized an extraordinary project. But, once the funds were gone, it was over, and we had to find other sources of funding. It's a never-ending process. It gets a bit difficult. It's also important to know that…

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. On behalf of the Fédération des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada, and on behalf of our president, Michel Vézina, from Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, who could not be here today, I would like to thank you for inviting us to speak this morning.

Health committee  Yes, quickly. I would simply like to say that I think that to encourage or promote physical activity among seniors, it's good to talk about it and advertise it. But a little structure also needs to be given to help this clientele continue. We have a big challenge to accept. We are seeing it within our federation.

Health committee  We have seen a big improvement over the past ten years, meaning that there is more and more comprehension. It still varies from region to region and province to province, but increasingly we are beginning to understand that these are important elements. But the tangible solutions are often slow in coming.

Health committee  There is a process. It starts and often takes place in hospitals. Patients are admitted. In the provinces, it goes through access centres. Placement is more and more centralized. Patients go through access centres, the names of which differ from province to province. As I explained in my presentation, the system unfortunately is under a lot of pressure.

Health committee  It's an important question. If I had the answer, I would be quick to give it to you. One thing is for certain, we cannot disregard the problem. The goal of my presentation was to quite simply point out that we must not disregard this aspect of the situation. It's very important.

Health committee  We have data and the statistical profile. You can find this statistical profile of francophones in Canada if you go to the federation's website. Curiously enough, the health indicators show first that the francophone seniors are much more disadvantaged when it comes to their income than the general population, even in Quebec.

Health committee  That's very good. Well done. I will give my presentation in French. I hope the interpretation is working properly. On behalf of the president, Mr. Michel Vézina, a resident of Saskatchewan, I would like to thank you this afternoon for your invitation. We are very pleased to present our testimony before the committee.